Steel wheel



E. R. HEWITT ET AL STEEDWHEEL July 22 1924. 1,502,308

Filed Jan. 4. 1923 atented July 22, 1924.

STATES EDWARD R. HEWITT, or MLDVADE, NEW JERSEY, AND AUGUST H. LETPERT, or con LEGE IPOINT, NEW YORK, ASSIGNORS TO INTERNATIONAL MOTOR COMPANY, OF:

NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

srEEr.v WHEEL;

Application filed January 4, 1923. Serial No.-610,546.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, EDWARD R. HEWITT and AUoUsT H. LEIPERT, citizens of the United States, residing, respectively, in Midvale, in the State of New Jersey, and College Point, in the borough of Queens of the city of New York, in the State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Steel Wheels, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming a part hereof.

Steel wheels have to be flexible to afford resiliency and stiff toafford strength against side stresses. These requirements call for opposing properties. Thinness is necessary for resiliency and thickness is necessary for strength. Metals of different properties would ordinarily be selected to satisfy these diverse requirements. In the circumstances, steel wheels have not been. satisfactory. Further, the problem of securing a thin disc to the felly has not been solved satisfactorily since known connectionshave not been of such character as to prevent rupture of metal at points adjacent to the felly where the stresses are greatest.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved steel wheel p which is of built-up form and adapted to satisfy the requirements of -resiliency and strength and permit the use in its composition of any high grade highly worked metal. A further object is to provide an improved connection between the web of the wheel and the felly which shall itself be of a resilient character and absorb to a great degree the shocks and Vibrations which ordinarily would be impressed on the web. This improved connection is of such character as to facilitate the assembling of the arts and further to'transmit the turning e orts with greater effectiveness than connections heretofore employed. It will be understood that this turning effort must be transmitted through the metal in the direction of turning, that is, throu h the thin portion of the metal. and, there ore, it has always been something of a problem to insure this tranmission without imposing destructive stresses on the associated parts.

In accordance with the invention the improved wheel is built up of a plurality of a web sections in much the manner of a leaf sprlngto the end that stifiness may be given at the desired points to the necessary degree and resiliency afforded at other points withthe web sections, that is, the spokes-,and the folly includes resilient blocks, as of rubber, which are carried by the folly and receive the end of the'spokes.v These blocks absorb I to a substantial-degree the shocks and vibratlons from the tread and reduce stresses to which the web is ordinarily subjected.

' The preferred embodiment of the inven tion will be described with reference to the,

accompanying drawing in which it is illustrated and in which I 1 Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a fragment of a wheel embodying the invention, parts being broken out to show the conifielclting blocks between the spokes and the Figure '2 1s a view in diametrical section through the wheel illustrated in Figure 1 Figure 3 1s a detail view in section at any indicatedby the line 33 of Figure l and looking in the direction of the arrows.

The hub a which may be of any approved form has secured thereto various sections 17, c, d of steel or other suitable metal which constitute the wheel web. One practical way of building up these sections and securing them to the hub is shown. The hub a is formed with a flange a? and the sections 1),.0, (Z have central openings therein to slide snugly over the hub a and be assembled against the flange a. Theflanged retaining ring e'may then be slipped over the hub a so asto confine the sections 2), o al between it and the flange a. Rivets f or other suitable'retaining devices may then be passed through the flanged ring 6, the hub flange a and the interposed sections .5, c andd.

In the illustrated embodiment the sections 5, o, d are of disc form having radially extending spokejsections b, c, d respectively, which are of different lengths so as to assume the same relationship as the leaves of a spring. For instance, the spokes b of art of the felly and taken on the plane drawin lar ang e pieces h, h are laid in under thethe central section b are the longest and extendoutwardly into juxtaposition with the felly g (to be described later), while the spokes 0' of the two proximate sections 0 are of less length, and the spokes d which he overthe spokes ca-re of even less length. It will be understood, of course, that the relative lengths, form and numbers of the component sections may be varied as good design may suggest without departing from the spirit of the invention. Stiffness and strength adjacent to the hub are assured by the construction described, while resiliency over all results from the spring-like relation of the juxtaposed sections. I

In steel wheels now known great diificulty has been found in securing the thin peripheral sections to the telly with security and strength. The greatest stresses are imposed on the web adjacent to the telly and a tendency to rupture at this point is of common knowledge. A further feature of the present invention is the connection between the component sections of the web and the telly. It is proposed to make this connection of a yielding character, although positive in its nature, in order that shocks and vibrations from the tread may be absorbed and the web thereby relieved to a great degree of the stresses usually impressed thereon. The resuit of this construction is, of course, that the web itself need not be as stout as heretofore and, accordingly, its inherent resiliency may be greater. As shown, it is preferred to construct the telly g of two sections 9, g which meet along a median line of parting and, when assembled, may be secured together by bolting, riveting or locking by appropriate clamping devices. By way of example therehas been shown in the a construction in which two circufel ly sections 9, g and thus secured toether at intervals by through rivets z' or lts which pass through a spacer bushing k. The felly sections g, g are formed at proper intervals with complementary flanges a g which, when brought together, constitute a pocket for the resilientconnecting block Z. In the illustrated embodiment such pockets are of rectangular form to receive a rectangular block Z into which extends the rectangular end of one of the spokes b.

The block 1 may be of rubber or other suitable resilient material. .The felly might be made in one piece in which case the boxes for the blocks would be provided with removable cover plates.

I In assembling the parts the block Z will preferably first be placed on the end of the spoke b and will be of such form and dimensions that when the telly sections g, g

are secured together the complementary flanges g, 9 thereof will confine the bloc under compression. The advantage of this the spoke 5'.

is not only that the :block Z is held so firml against displacement and thus constitutes such anetlective positive connection be tween the telly and the spoke, but also that its cushioning action is increased and its life greatly lengthened. With such a connection, shocks and vibrations from the tire m, which may be solid, are absorbed to a great degree by the block Z and the web sections 6, a, d, therefore relieved from the great stresses to which they are ordinarily subjected. This permits the spokes b to be made comparatively thin and flexible and therefore more resilient. Such stresses which it may have to resist are taken up proportionately by the reinforcing spokes 0' and d which overlie the spokes b and offer vmaximum resistance to side stresses thereon. The turning torque which must be transmitted through the spoke b in the direction ofturning, that is, through the thinthereby so that a more efi'ective'transmission of this effort is secured than in inflexible connections heretofore known. The compression of the block on to the endof the spoke b afiords a lateral engagement therebetween of large superficial area and the driving stresses are thereby transmltted 'frictionally, thus relieving the block OfaQutting stresses which might other-wise be 1mpressed thereon through the thin edge of Changes in the form and dimensions and rearrangements of parts may be made without departing from the spirit of the Invention provided the princip e 1s employed.

We claim as ourinvention: v

1. A wheel having a web built up of a plurality of juxtaposed metal sections secured together and to the hub, one of the sections extending out to the telly and the other sections being of less diameter and reslllent non-metallic connecting means interposed between said first mentioned section and the felloe.

2. A wheel comprising a plurality of metal discs having centra openingsthereln to receive the hub and formed with radially extendingv spokes of different lengths, the spokes being arranged like the leaves of a spring, respectively, and means to secure said discs to the hub.

thereon, resilient blocks engagin the ends of said spokes, and means carrie with the felly to connect the felly with the blocks and normally confine them under pressure.

5. A wheel. having a web built upl from steel plates the, central one of w 'ch is formed with spokes extending to the felly, two others of which are placed on opposite sides thereof and have spokes in juxtaposition to said first named spokes but of less length, and two others of which are in juxtaposltion to said second named plates and aving'spokes lying in juxtaposition to said second named spokes but of ass length.

6. A wheel having a web built u from steel plates the central one of w 'ch is formed with spokes extending to the folly, two others of which are placed on opposite sides thereof and have spokes in juxta osition to said first named spokes but 0 less length and two others of which are in juxtaposition to said second named plates and havin spokes lying in juxtaposition to said secon named spokes but of less length, yielding blocks carried on the ends of the first named spokes and means to connect said blocks to the felly.

7. A wheel having metal s okes, resilient blocks carried on the ends oi the spokes, a sectional felly to carry the tire, complementary flanges carried with the sections of the felly to form pockets for said blocks which are interposed between the faces of the spokes and the inner faces of the flanges,

respectively, and means to secure the sections of the felly together to confine said blocks under pressure and hold them against displacement with respect to *the spokes;

This specification signed this. 2nd day of January, A. D. 1923.

EDWARD R.'HEWITT, AUGUST H. LEIPERT. 

